World History
The Second Realms (formally Cialei) This is a brief history of the events that lead to The Second Realms as it is today. A good point to note is that most of the world created (As in created by me for play) right now is only the southern continent and there is much more not mapped. But the following will give you an overview as to the major points of the history of the world. The First Age Many people debate as to how this plane of existence came to be, with some believing it to be to random chance, others believing it to be a divine power and many a cruel joke. What isn’t highly debated however, is the role the took in reshaping and forging the world, creating life and guiding the world during the first age. After a few centuries, intelligent life thrived. The dominant races of the first age were the Elves, long and slender people who lived for many lifetimes and the dragonborn, a race of draconic reptilian humanoids with ties to dragonkind. These two races were at the forefront of war with each other, becoming the two largest empires of their times. The other races of the time, humans, halflings, gnomes, and dwarfs all divided to join both empires. The Aurorans were the only race that remained neutral during the warring times, at least the majority did. The dragonborn eventually became the dominant force thanks to their use of their dragon brothers and sisters as great weapons. The elves were broken and either ran to the corners of the planet or submitted to the dragonborns rule. After the warring times, they set out building the greatest empire ever seen by Cialei. They mastered medicine, flight and war faster than could be accomplished before. After a few decades of their rule though, the dwarves and humans began to form rebellion groups to overthrow the dragonborn. This plunged the world back into war, not as large as before but just as bloody. The ancients at this point were in a deep debate with each other over the correct course of action. They argued with each other and accused each other of aiding different sides of the conflict. As the war raged on the planet, despite the will of humans and dwarfs it looked as though the dragonborn were going to dominate again, until both the mortals and the ancients heard the beastly cry from the ground below them... The Calamity No race can fully agree as to what happened over the next five years, but many records sight this as a dark and bloody time in which monsters and beasts rose from the ground. Cities were destroyed, lands were flooded with water and with molten lava and entire continents were ripped apart. The death toll rose every single second and hope was dying. Led by a nearly unstoppable beast, Cialei fell. The five ancients fought with the mortals for the first time in history but even then that wasn’t enough, resulting in the death of more and one of the ancients. In a last-ditch effort, two of the ancients, Aurora and Candra, began to rip parts of the world from the ground and lifting them into the sky, far above the battlegrounds. While they were doing this, Kin and Iylano, continued to fight with the mortals who stay behind. According to records, after months more of fighting, the fighting on the surface stopped. Many of the mortals that survived were lifted up to the new world. They all described that one night, the beasts began to vanish before their eyes, crying out in pain. The largest apparently began to fall over as if he had lost all the will to continue. The entire event is regarded by all as the greatest loss of life in history, nearly 4 billion, and has marked the end of the first age. The Second Age After the Calamity, the world was no longer attached to its center. The landmasses that were most occupied were lifted into the heavens above the cloud layer and powerful magic was cast upon them to keep them floating for conceivably all eternity. Magic was also cast to allow weather patterns to continue as normal even though the world now lacked a large ocean to connect the landmasses. The ancients left the mortal realm for a long time, no longer interacting directly with them. The old races of began to realise two things. First, with the death of Barrow, Bowmen of Fate, people could no longer see their fates and lives laid out in front of them. They both had the freedom to forge their own paths and were left alone to choose. For some a blessing and others a terror. Second, is that these races were no longer alone. Along with the mortals who fought, two new races were found to of been emerging around the newly named Second Realm; these being the Orcs and Tieflings. These two races began to build up power with each other while many people treated them with hostility due to them being tied with the ending of the first age. After a few centuries, the people rebuilt their societies again and for a while, it started to look like the people were beginning to prosper. That was until Windhelm appeared... Windhelm's Army The world was moving ahead at a rapid pace. There were minor conflicts fought and settled but on the whole it was peaceful enough. That was until Windhelm began to bring followers into his hold. Windhelm was a half-orc man who placed the blame of the Calamity upon the warring nations of old. He began to preach and encourage orc kind and tieflings to fight against the old races, in an effort to overthrow and create a new world. After a while he began to amass a large enough following that the largest nations deemed him a threat and began to plot to kill him. That’s when they found out he was not only recruiting orcs and tieflings, but also monsters into his army. They attempted to kill him but failed when the assassins were devoured by his army. This attempted assassination was the spark that began the thirty year war. The Thirty Year War Not since the first age has the soil been soaked with as much red as this war brought. While numbers weren't on their side, they had pure power on their side. Windhelm was dominating the war, until the nations united with each other and mounted a single effort against him. In a battle that lasted three days and two nights, they were able to strike him down and the largest of his forces. By the end of the war, the world was reshaped once again, with many cities having to of been restored and again, the relations between races had to be mended. It has now been half a centuray since the end of the war but still it lingers in the minds of some. While small pockets of people remain who preach his message, Windhelm is widely considered to be a force of mosterors power and evil that brought pain to the world again. Present Day Today, while relations with orcs and tieflings are still shaky, many have built a bridge and are working together to advance the world forward once more. A new age of industry has boomed from the east, bringing The Second Realms into the age of steam. The first trains have begun to spring across the world and ingenuity leads the world foward.